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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29316543">notice me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohsun/pseuds/ohsun'>ohsun</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Confessions, M/M, Secret Admirer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:27:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,687</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29316543</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohsun/pseuds/ohsun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He hadn't thought about Yukhei yet - not in the context of his secret admirer. Still, he can’t help but feel silly for humouring the thought, because Yukhei is stupid hot and way out of Donghyuck’s league.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>270</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Challenge #5 — I heard a secret..</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>notice me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"What's up?" Jaemin asks, sinking back against the lockers next to Donghyuck's. "You have that look on your face."</p><p>"This," Donghyuck says, handing the post-it note in his hand to Jaemin, "this is up, again. This is the fifth time it's happened."</p><p>Jaemin's brow furrows when he reads from the note, "<em>you're so cute in your new glasses... I just wish you could see me</em>.”</p><p>"Yeah, <em>that</em>," Donghyuck says, fake-gagging as Jaemin reads his secret admirer's note out loud. </p><p>When the first post-it appeared in his locker on a Monday morning, Donghyuck had thought that someone must've gotten the wrong locker. Surely no one was sending <em>him</em>, Lee Donghyuck, anonymous compliments.</p><p>Then it happened again. Monday, a week later Donghyuck stood there again, even more surprised than the week before - a cute pink post-it in his hands, saying something about the shirt he'd worn on Friday, and how baby-blue was a good colour on him. It was equally as sappy and Donghyuck had been just as mortified.</p><p>The week after, Donghyuck had conveniently forgotten and accidentally opened his locker with Renjun right by his side, the note falling out not onto his own shoes, but on Renjun's. Renjun had read it first, so loud it had gotten the attention of all his friends, who had been very interested in the stack of notes that had been accumulating in Donghyuck’s locker.</p><p>"Do you have a secret admirer?" Renjun had asked after going through the stack, and Donghyuck had told him to shut up and hoped he would've left it there.</p><p>He hadn't - not Renjun or his secret admirer, who had made it a tradition to surprise Donghyuck with cute little notes on Monday mornings, including this one.</p><p>"So they're still..." Jaemin says, gesturing at the note that he hands back to Donghyuck, "do you have any idea who it is?"</p><p>Donghyuck shakes his head. They'd been over this, the talk of the cafeteria who could possibly be leaving these cute reminders in Donghyuck's locker. They'd interrogated each other about it, seeking evidence to prove it wasn't anyone in their friend circle - making them no less wiser on who it actually was.</p><p>Donghyuck is still half convinced it is just someone playing a prank on him, which is why he doesn't think about the note too much and puts it back inside, shutting his locker.</p><p>"Whatever," he says, slugging his bag over his shoulder as he starts walking away. Jaemin follows hot on his tail, chasing him up.</p><p>"Aren't you at least curious?" Jaemin asks.</p><p>"Whoever it is - they’re an idiot, because they have the wrong locker.”</p><p>📝</p><p>They don't have the wrong locker. </p><p>Next Monday Donghyuck shows up exceptionally early to school, just to empty out his locker and make sure that whatever surprise awaits him is received in privacy.</p><p>He's glad he did, because the sixth note is the worst up to date:</p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>I know exactly that locker 166 is yours lee donghyuck
just like I know how cute you looked in your sweater vest last week.</strong>
  </em>
</p><p>It wouldn't be so bad if a) that sweater vest was not a product of his mother's 'it was a gift' guilt tripping and thus absolutely horrendous, and b) it confirmed that whoever was doing this was out for Donghyuck - and not a poor fool unable to get lockers right.</p><p>And then exhibit c - the reason why this is a catastrophe of massive proportions, Donghyuck is actually <em>blushing</em> as he reads the note, somehow a little enamoured by the message the stranger is trying to get across.</p><p>Still, he puts the note back inside and pretends it didn't happen - what else can he do?</p><p>"So?" Jaemin asks excitedly when he sits down by the desk next to Donghyuck. </p><p>"What?" He asks, pretending to be oblivious.</p><p>"Come on - what did you get? The note! What did it say?" Jaemin asks.</p><p>Donghyuck snorts, glaring at Jaemin as he steals a pen from Donghyuck's pencil case.</p><p>"There was no note," Donghyuck lies.</p><p>"What?" Renjun barks, turning around in his chair to face Donghyuck. "There was no note?"</p><p>"Nope," Donghyuck confirms.</p><p>"You're lying," Renjun tries, but Donghyuck shakes his head insistently.</p><p>"No, they must've finally figured out they have the wrong locker. So you can stop guessing and interrogating people about it, because it's nobody."</p><p>📝</p><p>Donghyuck's such a good liar, he totally convinces himself that there was no note last Monday. He also convinces himself that the secret admirer isn't real, that he got the wrong locker, and that he doesn't have to show up early come Monday morning to excavate the potential threats in his locker.</p><p>When he saunters down the hallway that next Monday, Renjun, Jaemin and Jeno are all crowded up around his locker. He sees what they're seeing right away - Donghyuck's locker, or rather, what's left of it.</p><p>His entire locker is covered in yellow post-its.</p><p>"<em>There was no note</em>," Renjun mocks, and Donghyuck is so humiliated, face going beet red as he stares at his locker.</p><p>"Maybe there was a note," he says, to himself - preparing to sink through the ground out of embarrassment.</p><p>“Maybe there’s a lot of notes,” Jaemin points out.</p><p>At least the notes on his locker are empty - not covered in praise or compliments Donghyuck is too shy to take. </p><p>Still, they’re very obvious about his predicament and he doesn’t know how fast to start ripping them off. Jaemin helps him in the process, until his locker is free and he’s holding a stack full of empty post-it notes.</p><p>He turns back to his friends, all looking at him expectantly. </p><p>“What?” He asks, snapping up their attention.</p><p>“Open it! We wanna know what’s inside,” Renjun, ever the sadist, urges him on. </p><p>Donghyuck grumbles something under his breath, but does as he’s told, opening his locker. He half expects it to have a fucking <em>love letter</em>, his secret admirer going overboard this week.</p><p>But it’s empty, no note - nothing in it that proves his admirer actually wanted to convey a message, he just wanted to tease him.</p><p>“Nothing?” Renjun asks, peeking over Donghyuck’s shoulder. </p><p>“No,” Donghyuck agrees. “You can all go home, show’s over.” </p><p>He gathers his books, before slamming his locker shut and following his friends into the classroom.</p><p>When he opens his notebook later, he’s surprised by a yellow post-it.</p><p>
  <em>You’re lucky you’re cute, because you’re a terrible liar. </em>
</p><p>Donghyuck’s cheeks tint red, and he hides his face in his books, hoping no one will see it. He’s glad the stranger decided to opt for a more private way of getting the message across, the post-it’s on his locker merely a diversion for what they really wanted to say. </p><p>And he would never admit it to his friends, but secretly he likes the attention, the compliments that fill his tummy with butterflies. </p><p>It doesn’t really matter who they’re from - they make him feel special all the same.</p><p>📝</p><p>That next Monday Donghyuck is back in the business of saving himself the humiliation of receiving a secret admirer message in front of his friends, and he shows up bright and early to get his locker open.</p><p>He’s glad he did, because out falls a bouquet of flowers, pretty yellow roses bunched up in neat plastic wrapping. They look fresh, like they haven’t been in his locker all weekend - which means someone must’ve placed them there <em>just now</em>. </p><p>Looking around the hallway, he finds that it is empty - no one around to watch him hold the bouquet. He can’t imagine who else would show up to school so much earlier than necessary on a Monday morning, just to infiltrate Donghyuck’s locker. </p><p>Except for the basketball team, that has early morning practice on Mondays - which means that whoever it is, they’re on the basketball team. </p><p>Since Donghyuck is early anyways, he carefully puts the bouquet back into the locker, heading for the gymnasium. The seats are empty this early, but the players are all loud enough to cover any traces of Donghyuck opening the door, slipping in to sit on one of the back rows.</p><p>He knows most of the players - if not personally then definitely by the names on their back. Johnny is the captain, a senior that’s going to hand his task to Jaehyun when he graduates next year. </p><p>They’re both older, and involved - and Donghyuck’s not stupid enough to think they’d go after him. </p><p>He considers the other players, perhaps Mark - whom he hasn’t talked to since he called Mathletes stupid and Donghyuck retorted that each time you throw a ball at someone’s head you lose 37 brain cells. Mark would certainly not put in the effort for him.</p><p>He doesn’t know any of the players that are openly out, and for someone so bold about who they fancy - surely it must be someone who’s not shy about their sexuality. </p><p>Maybe it’s <em>not</em> someone on the basketball team. </p><p>Another player comes out of the dressing room, passing Donghyuck on his way there.</p><p>“Hey,” he greets. </p><p>“Oh, hey,” Donghyuck says, feeling a little ashamed that he got caught watching basketball practice so early in the morning. “I was just uh - heading out.” </p><p>“Right,” Yukhei says.</p><p>“Dude! Where have you been, that was like the longest water break ever!”  </p><p>The captain yells at Yukhei, but Donghyuck is already on his feet and making his way out of the gymnasium.</p><p>He hadn't thought about Yukhei yet - not in the context of his secret admirer. Still, he can’t help but feel silly for humouring the thought, because Yukhei is stupid hot and way out of Donghyuck’s league. </p><p>📝</p><p>“Hey,” Donghyuck whines as he drags his feet behind him into the classroom. </p><p>Doyoung quirks an eyebrow at him, unimpressed with his unenthusiastic attitude. Mathletes sounds fun and quirky but in practice it’s long Wednesday afternoons of suffering. </p><p>“Thanks for helping me set up,” Doyoung says, handing him the stack of clipboards.</p><p>Donghyuck starts setting them up on the tables. When he lifts up the last one, his eyes widen, staring down at the yellow rose tucked on it with a note. </p><p>
  <strong>You can <em>count on me</em> to be persistent, 
you look cute even in your mathlete uniform.</strong>
</p><p>And Donghyuck hates it - but at the same time he’s blushing madly and he can’t help but wonder how the stranger got away with this. </p><p>“Hey, Doyoung?” Donghyuck asks, “was anyone here when you came in?”</p><p>“No, why?” Doyoung asks, not lifting his gaze from his book.</p><p>“So no one’s been here,” Donghyuck clarifies, “while you were setting up, no ones been here?” </p><p>“Well - some basketball jock came in to get his bag, said he’d forgotten it - but he had it <em>on</em> his back, the idiot...” Doyoung laughs.</p><p>“Who was it?” </p><p>“I think his name is Yukhei, why?” </p><p>Donghyuck drops the trays down on the table. </p><p>“Nothing,” he says, clearing his throat as he finishes setting up, tucking the rose into his backpack, keeping the note safe in his pocket. </p><p>📝</p><p>Friday afternoon and Donghyuck’s last class of the day is conveniently cancelled. Basketball practice isn’t done until three, which leaves him just about thirty minutes to set his plan up.</p><p>He had stolen three whole stacks of post-it’s when the teacher wasn’t looking, and now he’s in the school parking lot looking for a blue Honda, the car that, according to Mark, belongs to Yukhei.</p><p>The post-its are pink, and they’re going to look fantastic covering Yukhei’s car. </p><p>Yukhei is going to get a taste of his own medicine - and maybe Donghyuck will gather enough courage to tell him he knows it’s him, and maybe ask him out. </p><p>So he spends thirty minutes sticking the notes onto every possible surface of the car, until the car is almost entirely pink.</p><p>Donghyuck waits for practice to finish, standing by awkwardly as the players come out one by one, Johnny and Yukhei following last. </p><p>They’ve noticed the car already, and are laughing about it - wondering who pissed someone off so bad that they resorted to this.</p><p>Yukhei looks surprised when he sees it, perhaps a little embarrassed - but since he’s already humiliated Donghyuck in front of all his friends, this is only fair.</p><p>“What the fuck,” Johnny exclaims, pointing at the car, “which one of you did this to my car?” </p><p>It doesn’t go unnoticed to Donghyuck that Johnny emphasises this as <em>his</em> car, implicating that this is in fact not Yukhei’s car, which would be nothing short of disastrous. </p><p>It turns out it <em>is</em> disastrous, as everyone is laughing at Johnny’s car and the way it’s covered in approximately 500 notes, and how Johnny seems clueless to who did this. </p><p>When that laughter dies down, they’re suddenly all looking at Donghyuck - the only person around that actually had time and opportunity to do this, and who conveniently decided to hang around to see it. </p><p>“You did this?” Johnny asks, and Donghyuck’s blood runs cold. Johnny is tall and muscular, and he could snap Donghyuck like a twig with his huge hands. </p><p>Donghyuck forgets how to speak altogether.</p><p>“No dude, sorry - it was me,” Yukhei speaks up suddenly. “I paid Jisung to do this to Ten’s car - to get revenge for that group project we flunked because of him, but he must’ve picked the wrong one.” </p><p>Johnny looks sceptical for a moment, before he breaks out in laughter, and the whole group joins in.</p><p>Donghyuck watches them from a distance, clearing out all the post-its until Johnny’s safe to drive home. The parking lot clears out after everyone bids their goodbyes, leaving just Yukhei and Donghyuck. </p><p>“So,” he says, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.</p><p>“Thank you,” Donghyuck says, “for saving my ass back there.”</p><p>Yukhei shrugs. “If you told them about… that, then they would’ve known about my notes, too.” </p><p>“Right,” Donghyuck agrees, “you had ulterior motives.” </p><p>“Kind of,” Yukhei admits, “also just wanted to get you alone, finally.” </p><p>“Really?” Donghyuck poses. “Guess we’re in the same boat, here.”</p><p>He plucks the last post-it he has tucked on the inside of his jacket, reaching up to press it against Yukhei’s forehead, seemingly the most logical place where it should go.</p><p>Yukhei chuckles, frowning so the note drops into his hands.</p><p>
  <strong>date me??</strong>
</p><p>Yukhei looks surprised by it, mouth open - and then the reddest blush spreads out on his cheeks. Donghyuck gets it then - why he spent so long anonymously complimenting Donghyuck instead of upfront trying to get his attention, because he’s <em>so</em> easily flustered, tainting all the way to the tip of his ears. </p><p>“Uhh…” Yukhei stammers out, smiling down at the note as he curls it in his hand. Donghyuck thinks it’s adorable.</p><p>“It’s a yes or no question - do you need tick boxes?” </p><p>Yukhei laughs, a gummy smile on his face as he looks at Donghyuck. </p><p>“Yes, definitely,” Yukhei agrees. </p><p>“Great! I guess the <em>odds are in my favour,</em>” Donghyuck tries, but the math puns really fall short when they’re not on stupid post it notes in Yukhei’s hand writing. </p><p>Still Yukhei laughs, and he’s so pretty when he does, Donghyuck’s tummy fills with butterflies at the sight. </p><p>“Did you really… mean all those things? That you wrote?” Donghyuck asks, suddenly a little shy.</p><p>Yukhei’s breath hitches, but Donghyuck’s happy to know he’s not the only one nervous.  </p><p>“Yeah, I did,” Yukhei admits, “I couldn’t say them, because you’re you… but I meant all of it.” </p><p>“I’m me?” Donghyuck asks, tilting his head as he frowns. </p><p>“You know… <em>you</em>,” Yukhei explains, making vague hand gestures, “you make me so nervous I trip over my own feet when I try talking to you.” </p><p>“Maybe you should hold my hand then,” Donghyuck suggests, but Yukhei looks clueless. “When you take me for ice-cream now, maybe hold my hand - so you don’t fall.” </p><p>“Oh,” Yukhei says, considering the offer, “that sounds… good.” </p><p>“Cool,” Donghyuck says. He has to take a moment to put on his bravest face, but when he does he extends his hand to him, “let’s go then?”</p><p>📝</p><p>(“You know I don’t even have a car, right?”</p><p>“What do you mean - Mark told me you drive a blue Honda - <em>wait.</em> You mean Mark <em>lied</em>?”)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you so much for reading! please let me know if you enjoyed it by leaving a comment. thank you &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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